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New pizzerias bring pies aplenty, with more in works

New pizza restaurants now open, coming to Greater Cincinnati

When it comes to the availability of pizza, the local pie keeps getting bigger.
Pizzerias are opening second locations, new chains are coming into the market and locals are selling pizza from food trucks. Here is the latest news in pizza.

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A fig and prociutto pizza sits atop one of A Tavola's custom-made maple wood tables. David Sorcher / Special for the Enquirer

OPEN: A Tavola II

A Tavola II opened in Madeira in mid-April. This is the second location
of the popular pizzeria on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine.

They're making Neapolitan-style pizza now, in a wood-burning oven, but once
their new electric deck oven - the first Italforni Bull oven in the United
States - is fired up, they'll be turning out Roman-style, super-thin and
crispy-crusted pizza.It duplicates the menu of the original pizzeria, with thin-crusted
Neapolitan-style pizzas baked in a wood-burning oven, along with bruschetta,
salads, meatballs and sliders. Pizzas include specialty combinations such as fig
and prosciutto, sweet pea and bacon, and brussels sprouts and fontina, as well
as toppings chosen by the customer.

The new location boasts a large outdoor eating area. It's open for dinner
only, from 4 p.m.-midnight daily.

Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza, a build-your-own pizza concept, has opened in
Mason. It's built around an interactive assembly line that allows each guest to
create a pizza with the toppings they want -- or select one of the "Signature"
options -- as they move down the line.

Each creation is then baked in a very hot oven, allowing the pizzas to bake
"freakishly fast." The 11-inch pizzas are cooked in 2-3 minutes, and cost
$7.

Each pie can be topped with a variety of sauces, fresh vegetables, meats and
cheeses, including vegan cheese, either in a "signature pizza" combination, or
selected by the guest.

Blaze is headquartered in Los Angeles and franchised in all 50 states.

Rosario's Pizza of Loveland has closed, and the owner has taken
to the streets with a new pizza trailer. He's usually on Fountain Square during
the week, selling very generous slices of plain and pepperoni pizza for $3,
along with sandwiches, whole pizzas and calzones. It's a super-thin, almost
crackery crust, covered with an about equal amount of sauce and cheese.

513-583-1999

P&P Woodfired Pizza

OPEN: P&P Woodfired Pizza

Another new pizza truck is P&P Woodfired Pizza. They have a
wood-burning oven on a trailer, making thin but puffy pizzas straight out of the
oven. Find Pam Sisney and Patty Moran mostly on the weekend.

The pizza pub will open at 4 p.m. May 25, during Memorial Day weekend. Its
menu will include pizzas, hoagies, sandwiches, calzones, pastas and the like for
lunch, dinner and late-night.

The full-service bar will include cocktails crafted by Chicago-based
mixologist Benjamin Newby, who also created the cocktail menu at Downtown lounge
Obscura, plus craft beers, draft beers, spirits and wine. Carry-out and delivery
to the Downtown area will be added in the future.

Rusconi is named for the alley adjacent to the building, Rusconi Place.

The lower-level bar/arcade will feature arcade games, interactive tournaments
and a full-service bar. That part of the venue should open in June.

The Kosmic Karma, a specialty pizza with red sauce, feta and mozzarella cheeses, spinach, sun-dried and Roma tomatoes, and a pesto swirl, from the Mellow Mushroom.Enquirer file

LATE MAY: Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom, the pizza- and beer-centric chain with a hippie bent,
is opening a new location in Oakley's Hyde Park Plaza; its target opening is in
late May.

Mellow Mushroom is taking space in Hyde Park Plaza between Starbucks and
Panera that was previously City Barbeque.

Owner/operator Kevin Molony, who also owns Mellow Mushroom restaurants in
West Chester and Wilder, said that the Oakley store will pay homage to
Cincinnati with steamboats and other river elements.

He also hopes to do a tie-in with the city's beer history, which fits with
the restaurant's strong beer emphasis: The new location will have 36 taps and
more than 100 types of craft beer. The menu also includes soups, salads, calzones, hoagies, appetizers and desserts.

The new restaurant will be 6,200 square feet, slightly larger than the other
local stores, with seating for about 190, plus an outdoor seating area.

The new Mac's Pizza Pub location at 2920 Montgomery Road, in the Landen neighborhood of Deerfield Township,
should open by mid-June.

The building is 5,000 square feet,
bigger than the Mac's restaurants in Clifton Heights and on the
Fairfax-Mariemont border. The new location will have a large outdoor patio that
flows into a sand volleyball court, plus large glass garage doors to open on nice days.

Mac Ryan and Josh Freid, Mac's corporate chef and a veteran of Jeff Ruby's and
Embers, co-own the new location. In the build-out, they've used lots of
reclaimed materials: whiskey barrels from Barton Distillery in Bardstown,
Kentucky, comprise the sign for the front of the building; wood from
Lenhardt's/Christy's, which was torn down in Clifton, was used to make some of
the tables. That repurposing, along with LED lighting, helps make the restaurant environmentally friendly.

The menu will be mostly the same as the other restaurants, with pizzas, "macovers," salads and more than 100 beers.

Goodfellas Pizzeria is moving into the Over-the-Rhine space that was
most recently Mayberry on Main Street. Owners Alex Coats and Eric Boggs, who opened a Goodfellas in Covington's
MainStrasse Village in 2012 and have two locations in Lexington, bought the
building at 1211 Main St. They're
doing a complete renovation of the space and plan to open this summer.

Goodfellas serves hand-tossed, New York-style pizza, by the pie or by the
slice. Dough is made fresh every morning, and sauces are also made in-house.
They will have about 20 craft beers on tap.

The atmosphere will be similar to Covington, with black-and-white photos of
gangsters and the Rat Pack and an open kitchen. But it will be larger than the Covington shop: they will be able to seat
about 75 diners and will offer an outdoor patio.

As at the Covington location, upstairs will be the Prohibition-themed Wiseguy
Lounge, serving 170 different bourbons and handcrafted cocktails by mixologist
Bill Whitlow.

Fireside Pizza, a bricks-and-mortar location for the
Fireside Pizza Wagon, will open in the oldest fire station in the city.

Fireside's Mike Marshmann teamed up with Elias Leisring of Eli's BBQ to put
together this restaurant. It's in a new entertainment district of Walnut Hills.
Look for wood-fired, thin-crusted pizza. The wood-fired oven is the only thing
to cook on in the restaurant.

The first location of the Southern California-based chain will open around late
July at U Square @ the Loop. It will be at 128 W. McMillan St., near Lime Fresh
Mexican Grill.

Diners can choose from one of seven pre-set pizzas or create their own custom
pizzas by choosing their sauce, cheese and unlimited toppings for an 11-inch,
thin-crust pie. Pizzas, which will cost less than $8, are then cooked for three
minutes in a stone oven. Simple salads are also on the menu.

The atmosphere will be "industrial chic," with polished concrete floors, exposed
duct work and wood furnishings, local franchise owner Erich Luichinger said.
There's seating for about 70, including 10 at a large community table.

Pi Pizzeria, a small St. Louis-based pizza chain serving both deep-dish
and thin-crust pizzas, will open in Downtown's AT580 building, at the corner of
Sixth and Main streets, by August.

Co-founder Chris Sommers said the first restaurant opened six years ago, on Pi
Day (3-14-08), in his hometown of St. Louis (where the area code is also 314).

Gluten-free crust, as well as vegan cheese and
meat substitutes, are available. Also on the menu: appetizers that include wings and hummus, several salads
and desserts, including gluten-free and vegan options.

Pi serves only craft beer; at the Downtown location, they will have 24 taps,
with "as many Cincinnati beers as possible," Sommers said, plus St. Louis brews.
And they will serve Graeter's ice cream.

There will be seating for about 150, including 25 at
the bar, plus another 30 to 40 seats outside.

Ed and Lori Gossman, who are relocating from the
Washington, D.C., area, plan to open a wood-fired pizza restaurant in the former
Mio's space at 15 N. Fort Thomas Ave. in Fort Thomas this fall. They aren't yet releasing the name for the restaurant, which Ed Gossman is
calling "upscale fast casual" and where they'll also serve small plates, salads
and paninis.

While in the D.C. area, the couple owned and ran Roscoe's, a Neapolitan pizza
restaurant in Takoma Park, Maryland, for five years.

Pizzas will be cooked at a high temperature, so they will be ready fast, but
emphasis will be placed on fresh ingredients. The bar menu will be beer-centric. There are already eight taps, so they will
have at least that many, plus a variety of bottled beers, a small but quality
wine list and signature craft cocktails.

The restaurant seats about 60 on the upper/main level, plus 40 more
downstairs, where there will be more of a lounge atmosphere.

15 N. Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas.

Pies & Pints

NEXT YEAR: Pies & Pints

Pies & Pints won't be coming until October 2015. It's the
first restaurant named for the planned Liberty Center development in Liberty
Township. There are five in West Virginia and Ohio, including Dayton. It
features gourmet-style pizza, such as one with Sriracha marinated shrimp,
pineapple, red onion and scallions finished with cilantro, basil, mint and
Sriracha mayonnaise.

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. A fig and prociutto pizza sits atop one of A Tavola's custom made maple wood tables. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. Woody Taft and Mark Richey of Indian Hill enjoy some drinks and conversation at the bar. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. The fine woodworking of the interior extends to the facade of the restaurant as well. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. A Tavola has a spacious outdoor patio area which should be opening shortly for the warm weather. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. A Tavola has a spacious outdoor patio area which should be opening shortly for the warm weather. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. A Tavola has a spacious outdoor patio area which should be opening shortly for the warm weather. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. Table settings await customers as line cooks prep for dinner by the wood burning oven. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. Beautiful free-form patterns can be found on the custom made maple wood dining tables. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

Take a look inside A Tavola Pizza's newly opened second location, in Madeira. Bar manger Steve Mitchell ignites the oils of an orange rind as he prepares an Old Fashion. (Photo: David Sorcher for The Enquirer)

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OPEN: A Tavola II opened in Madeira in mid-April. This is the second location of the popular pizzeria on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine.

It duplicates the menu of the original pizzeria, with thin-crusted Neapolitan-style pizzas baked in a wood-burning oven, along with bruschetta, salads, meatballs and sliders. Pizzas include specialty combinations such as fig and prosciutto, sweet pea and bacon, and brussels sprouts and fontina, as well as toppings chosen by the customer.

They're making Neapolitan-style pizza now, in a wood-burning oven, but once their new electric deck oven – the first Italforni Bull oven in the United States – is fired up, they'll be turning out Roman-style, super-thin and crispy-crusted pizza.

The new location boasts a large outdoor eating area. It's open for dinner only, from 4 p.m.-midnight daily.

OPEN: Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza, a build-your-own pizza concept, has opened in Mason. It's built around an interactive assembly line that allows each guest to create a pizza with the toppings they want – or select one of the "Signature" options – as they move down the line.

Each creation is then baked in a very hot oven, allowing the pizzas to bake "freakishly fast." The 11-inch pizzas are cooked in 2-3 minutes, and cost $7.

Each pie can be topped with a variety of sauces, fresh vegetables, meats and cheeses, including vegan cheese, either in a "signature pizza" combination, or selected by the guest.

Blaze is headquartered in Los Angeles and franchised in all 50 states.

OPEN: Rosario's Pizza of Loveland has closed, and the owner has taken to the streets with a new pizza trailer. He's usually on Fountain Square during the week, selling very generous slices of plain and pepperoni pizza for $3, along with sandwiches, whole pizzas and calzones. It's a super-thin, almost crackery crust, covered with an about equal amount of sauce and cheese.

513-583-1999

P&P.(Photo: Provided)

OPEN: Another new pizza truck is P&P Woodfired Pizza. They have a wood-burning oven on a trailer, making thin but puffy pizzas straight out of the oven. Find Pam Sisney and Patty Moran mostly on the weekend.

The pizza pub will open at 4 p.m. May 25, during Memorial Day weekend. Its menu will include pizzas, hoagies, sandwiches, calzones, pastas and the like for lunch, dinner and late-night.

The full-service bar will include cocktails crafted by Chicago-based mixologist Benjamin Newby, who also created the cocktail menu at Downtown lounge Obscura, plus craft beers, draft beers, spirits and wine. Carry-out and delivery to the Downtown area will be added in the future.

Rusconi is named for the alley adjacent to the building, Rusconi Place. The Rusconi brothers, Domenick and Pete, took over their father's shop, the Rusconi Seed Store, at 124 W. Sixth St. in 1917. Neither brother had children, so getting the 90-foot alley named for them was a way to carry on their family name.

The lower-level bar/arcade will feature arcade games, interactive tournaments and a full-service bar. That part of the venue should open in June.

LATE MAY: Mellow Mushroom, the pizza- and beer-centric chain with a hippie bent, is opening a new location in Oakley's Hyde Park Plaza; its target opening is in late May.

Mellow Mushroom is taking space in Hyde Park Plaza between Starbucks and Panera that was previously City Barbeque (that restaurant closed in September).

Owner/operator Kevin Molony, who also owns Mellow Mushroom restaurants in West Chester and Wilder, said that the Oakley store will pay homage to Cincinnati with steamboats and other river elements.

He also hopes to do a tie-in with the city's beer history, which fits with the restaurant's strong beer emphasis: The new location will have 36 taps and more than 100 types of craft beer. There's also a free beer club, which gives members points for trying new beers; points can then be redeemed for prizes.

Aside from the pizzas, which include the Kosmic Karma (red sauce, feta and mozzarella cheeses, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and Roma tomatoes with a pesto swirl), the menu includes soups, salads, calzones, hoagies, appetizers and desserts.

The new restaurant will be 6,200 square feet, slightly larger than the other local stores, with seating for about 190, plus an outdoor seating area. They might add an indoor/outdoor bar, too.

It will open at 11 a.m. daily for lunch, closing at 10 p.m. weeknights but staying open later, probably until 11 p.m. or midnight, on weekends.

A "macover" from Mac's Pizza Pub, which has locations in Clifton Heights and Fairfax, and will soon open in Landen.(Photo: Provided photo)

JUNE: The new Mac's Pizza Pub location at 2920 Montgomery Road, a little north of Fields Ertel in the Landen neighborhood of Deerfield Township, should open by mid-June.

Formerly Tabby's restaurant and bar, the building is 5,000 square feet, bigger than the Mac's restaurants in Clifton Heights and on the Fairfax-Mariemont border. The new location will have a large outdoor patio that flows into a sand volleyball court (with beach toys for kids when games aren't being played), plus large glass garage doors to open on nice days.

Mac Ryan and Josh Freid, Mac's corporate chef and a veteran of Jeff Ruby's and Embers, co-own the new location. In the build-out, they've used lots of reclaimed materials: whiskey barrels from Barton Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, comprise the sign for the front of the building; wood from Lenhardt's/Christy's, which was torn down in Clifton, was used to make some of the tables. That repurposing, along with LED lighting, help make the restaurant more environmentally friendly, which is important to Ryan.

Other highlights of the new location will be trivia and other themed nights, plus free slushies for kids in the summer.

When it opens, the new location will serve lunch and dinner and be open late Friday and Saturday nights. The menu will be mostly the same as the other restaurants, with pizzas, "macovers," salads and more than 100 beers.

Goodfellas Pizzeria is moving into the space that was most recently Mayberry on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. The restaurant serves New York-style pizza.
Provided(Photo: Provided)

SUMMER: Goodfellas Pizzeria is moving into the Over-the-Rhine space that was most recently Mayberry on Main Street.

Owners Alex Coats and Eric Boggs, who opened a Goodfellas in Covington's MainStrasse Village in 2012 and have two locations in Lexington, bought the building at 1211 Main St., across from Japp's, Neon's and The Drinkery. They're doing a complete renovation of the space and plan to open this summer.

Goodfellas serves hand-tossed, New York-style pizza, by the pie or by the slice. Dough is made fresh every morning, and sauces are also made in-house. They will have about 20 craft beers on tap.

At lunch, diners can get a large slice and a side – a breadstick, salad or dessert – plus a soda or a draft PBR for $6. They'll also be open for dinner and late night.

The atmosphere will be similar to Covington, with black-and-white photos of gangsters and the Rat Pack and an open kitchen. But they will also integrate some new design and decor elements that will differentiate it from other locations. It will be larger than the Covington shop: they will be able to seat about 75 diners and will offer an outdoor patio.

As at the Covington location, upstairs will be the Prohibition-themed Wiseguy Lounge, serving 170 different bourbons and handcrafted cocktails by mixologist Bill Whitlow.

JULY: Fireside Pizza, a bricks-and-mortar location for the Fireside Pizza Wagon, will open in the oldest fire station in the city. Fireside's Mike Marshmann teamed up with Elias Leisring of Eli's BBQ to put together this restaurant. It's in a new entertainment district of Walnut Hills. Look for wood-fired, thin-crusted pizza. The wood-fired oven is the only thing to cook on in the restaurant.

773 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills.

Pieology Pizzeria, a fast-casual pizza chain where diners build their own pizzas, assembly-line style, is coming here. A location will open at U Square this summer.(Photo: Provided photo)

LATE JULY: Pieology Pizzeria, a fast-casual pizza chain where diners build their own pizzas, assembly-line style, is coming here.

The first location of the Southern California-based chain will open around late July at U Square @ the Loop. It will be at 128 W. McMillan St., near Lime Fresh Mexican Grill.

Diners can choose from one of seven pre-set pizzas or create their own custom pizzas by choosing their sauce, cheese and unlimited toppings for an 11-inch, thin-crust pie. Pizzas, which will cost less than $8, are then cooked for three minutes in a stone oven.

Simple salads are also on the menu.

The atmosphere will be "industrial chic," with polished concrete floors, exposed duct work and wood furnishings, local franchise owner Erich Luichinger said. There's seating for about 70, including 10 at a large community table.

It will be open from 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Kyle Hopkins, director of development and real estate for Pieology, said the three-year-old chain has 19 stores open, with 52 under construction and commitments for more than 270.

Luichinger is planning multiple locations in Greater Cincinnati, but U Square is the only firm location so far.

AUGUST: Pi Pizzeria, a small St. Louis-based pizza chain serving both deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas, will open in Downtown's AT580 building, at the corner of Sixth and Main streets, by August.

Co-founder Chris Sommers said the first restaurant opened six years ago, on Pi Day (3-14-08), in his hometown of St. Louis (where the area code is also 314). There are now six Pi locations in St. Louis and Washington, D.C., plus a couple of food trucks.

Sommers said the restaurants sell an even amount of thin-crust and deep dish cornmeal crust pizzas.

Among the most popular pies are the South Side Classico deep dish, with mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers and onions; and the Central West End thin crust, with mozzarella, volpi prosciutto, goat cheese, grape tomatoes, red onions and arugula. Gluten-free crust, as well as vegan cheese and meat substitutes, are available.

Also on the menu: appetizers that include wings and hummus, several salads and desserts, including gluten-free and vegan options.

Pi serves only craft beer; at the Downtown location, they will have 24 taps, with "as many Cincinnati beers as possible," Sommers said, plus St. Louis brews. And they will serve Graeter's ice cream.

Each of the restaurants looks a little different. The Cincinnati location will have charred wood on the walls to warm up the 4,000-square-foot steel, concrete and glass space. There will be seating for about 150, including 25 at the bar, plus another 30 to 40 seats outside.

When it opens, Pi will serve lunch and dinner, from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. or later, seven days a week.

FALL: Ed and Lori Gossman, who are relocating from the Washington, D.C., area, plan to open a wood-fired pizza restaurant in the former Mio's space at 15 N. Fort Thomas Ave. in Fort Thomas this fall.

They aren't yet releasing the name for the restaurant, which Ed Gossman is calling "upscale fast casual" and where they'll also serve small plates, salads and paninis.

While in the D.C. area, the couple owned and ran Roscoe's, a Neapolitan pizza restaurant in Takoma Park, Maryland, for five years. They will rely on that experience, and their 20-plus years each in the restaurant business, in starting their new venture.

Pizzas will be cooked at a high temperature, so they will be ready fast, but emphasis will be placed on fresh ingredients and presentation, Gossman said. The couple plans to serve lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.

The bar menu will be beer-centric. There are already eight taps, so they will have at least that many, plus a variety of bottled beers, a small but quality wine list and signature craft cocktails, Gossman said.

A substantial remodel of the space will include opening up the rooms in the upstairs main dining area and going to an open kitchen. Ed Gossman said he hopes to make the pizza oven visible from all seats. He'll also add a sound-absorbing ceiling.

The restaurant seats about 60 on the upper/main level, plus 40 more downstairs, where there will be more of a lounge atmosphere. Gossman said they also hope to maximize the large patio.

COMING NEXT YEAR: Pies & Pints won't be coming until October 2015. It's the first restaurant named for the planned Liberty Center development in Liberty Township. There are five in West Virginia and Ohio, including Dayton. It features gourmet-style pizza, such as one with Sriracha marinated shrimp, pineapple, red onion and scallions finished with cilantro, basil, mint and Sriracha mayonnaise.